Focusrite Scarlet 3rd Gen

Intro

To the Rappers, RnB Singers and Producers in the market for a new recording interface, Focusrite offers some moderately priced, high-quality solutions in their Scarlet line. Don’t buy the Solo. Buy the 2i2. Read on to find out why.

What Happened

I was in the market for a new recording interface and was interested in the Scarlet 2i2. Just before pulling the trigger on the $170 Scarlet 2i2, I saw a cheaper option in the $120 Scarlet Solo. Off first glance I saw that the Solo had 1 microphone preamp while the 2i2 had 2. As a rapper I figured I wouldn’t need more than one mic preamp as in HipHop, we record vocals over prerecorded music. I decided to buy the Solo saving me $50.00.

A Costly Mistake

There was one additional major difference between the Solo and the 2i2 that I overlooked. The 2i2 features 2 independent volume control knobs for your monitors(speakers) and your headphones respectively. The solo lacks this feature. Instead, the headphones and the speakers are controlled using the same volume knob.

Respect The Knob

This is a pain for rappers and singers with an at home setup because when recording a verse, you need to be able to turn your speakers down and your head phones up while you record. The headphones keep you on beat for that perfect take. Turning the speakers down provide the quite room for clean vocals. After your done recording you can ensure that the verse fits in the mix using your monitors. More knobs, more options. I ended up returning the Solo and purchasing the 2i2.

Recommendation

Skip the Solo and grab the 2i2. While you could make the Solo work by plugging it into a mixer, you could save yourself the effort by buying the tool that you actually need. I make this point because recording interfaces like the Solo are usually targeted towards Singer songwriters who wish to record themselves singing and playing guitar at the same time. That’s not what we do as Rappers/RnB Artists. The vast majority of the time, we lay verses over prerecorded music and require a quite room to capture clean and crisp vocals, but also require the flexibility of turning up the volume of the main monitors during the mixing phase. Last note, even if you are a Singer Song Writer, spend the extra $50 and get the 2i2,